Permafrost
by Whirling
Summary: Pitch wants Jack on his side - but at what lengths will he go to succeed? ((Okay, this isn't the best summary... This is an alternate ending for RotG. The rating might be wrong... Not sure.))
1. Chapter 1

_Erm, hello. This is my first story here, and... Well, I hope I'm doing everything right o.o' Reviews would be much appreciated! I'd love to know if people like this or not... xD Also, I'm not sure about the rating... Let me know if it could be lowered, because I'm pretty sure I'm being overcautious about it xD_

_This is an alternate ending to RotG. It starts off right after he gets his memories from Pitch's Lair, but things go along differently from there._

**Chapter One**

He raised his staff absentmindedly, tapping a nearby rock and sending graceful patterns of light blue swirling over its already frozen surface. _Why am I so undecided about this whole "Guardian" thing…? _He thought to himself, pacing the huge glacier on which he'd landed moments earlier. _I'm not fit to be a Guardian. Heck, I can't even stay loyal to them for a day._ He took the memories from his hoodie's pocket. His memories. From when he was human. Before his death. Before the Man in the Moon decided that he could do more than what he already had, decided that he deserved more. "But do I really deserve this?" he asked himself softly, staring at the brown-haired image of himself on the case of teeth. "After what I've done… After what these memories have made me do… How can I just walk out on them? They've done so much for me, and what do I do for them? Ruin …" the boy trailed off, staring out at the ocean. _Ruin everything for them. I- I-_ He found it hard to finish the thought. _I as good as destroyed Bunny, and everything he ever cared for…_

His light blue eyes hardened, and he approached the edge of the glacier. Cautiously, he looked over the rim – only cautious out of instinct, not of real fear. He'd gotten so used to flying these days that no height could scare him.

Jack raised the golden container, gritting his teeth and preparing to throw the little case into the ocean, where no one could ever see his past – but he couldn't bring himself to do it, and he fell to his knees, clutching at the case. For a moment, he stared at the intricately designed container, then he huffed out a breath of air, and stuffed the case back into his hoodie's pocket. _I'll deal with that later. Now… I need to make a decision. A final one. Do I help the Guardians – no, do I become a Guardian? Or do I go back to making snow days on one side of the planet and freezing people to death on the other? _He cursed his inability to make this decision; how hard could it possibly be?

_The Guardians can handle Pitch on their own. They don't really need my help. _He chuckled as a thought came to him. _Sandy could kick his butt without anyone's help. Why did they _really_ ask me to become a Guardian? What could I do in this whole mess that Pitch has made?_

He shook his head, snorting and picking up his staff. Jack continued his pacing, staring into the icy wasteland around him. "All I can do is create pretty little snowflakes and make environments cold enough to kill," he said aloud, sitting on the same rock on which he'd been practicing his frosty power a few moments before. The immortal teen put his head in his hands, wondering what to do with himself.

He couldn't have been sitting there for more than a minute before he felt a firm hand clamp down on his shoulder.

Jumping from his seat in surprise, Jack stared at the hand's owner. "Pitch?" he said in wonder, amazed that the Nightmare King had found him out in this white desert. "But… What are _you_ doing here?" Less than an hour ago, he'd seen Pitch in his lair with the poor fairies – when Pitch had decided to give him the memories. Jack stared at the tall man for a moment, then shook his head in anger and disgust. "Get away from me," he said harshly, turning his back on Pitch and walking away, disregarding him completely.

Pitch Black simply stood where he was, smiling as though he'd predicted exactly Jack's reaction to his presence. He remained motionless for a second, then melted into the shadows as if he'd never been there in the first place.

Jack turned back to look at Pitch, but was confused when he saw that the Nightmare King was no longer there. The immortal stared at the spot he'd been for a few seconds, then shrugged and continued on his way. _Maybe I imagined him… But I thought I felt his hand? _Jack dismissed thoughts of Pitch. _He's just trying to make me afraid. Well, too bad for him. There's no fear here._

"Ah, but there is, isn't there, Jack?" A velvety voice came from directly behind him; a dark shadow enveloped his body.

"Pitch. You are here," Jack growled, turning to see the dark man. "What do you want with me?" he asked, angry. "Isn't it enough that you've destroyed everything Tooth and Bunny loved? What's next? Going to target North, now?"

But Pitch only chuckled, shaking his head as though Jack were some child who didn't understand anything. This annoyed Jack unimaginably, and he gritted his teeth as he waited for Pitch's response.

"Oh, Jack… It's been - what, 300 years since the Man in the Moon decided you were worth something more than your _pitiful _human life? And what have you done since then? Wandered about, striking fear into the fading hearts of so many cold, dying people… There's a reason it's called _frost_bite, Jack."

The boy tensed, holding his staff in front of him in a defensive position. The designs engraved in the wood were glowing soft, faint blue. "Shut up, Pitch. I don't know why you're here, but you're not welcome. Now leave, before I force you to." His staff got brighter, his expression colder.

Pitch only smiled wider. "Ah, but I thought you were a neutral party? You've changed your mind, then? Going to join the Guardians on their _petty_ mission? Haven't they told you, Jack? If you agree to be a true Guardian, then your whole existence relies on the belief of _children. _But who believes in you? No one." The Nightmare King smirked. "You wouldn't last very long as a Guardian if no one believed in you, hm?"

He was a bit confused now, unsure of how to respond. "So what are you doing here? I know all this. I'm not in the mood for a lecture."

"Oh, so you do know? And yet you're still going to die for these weaklings?"

"Who said I was joining them?"

Pitch laughed. "Why, maybe you did, when you threatened to attack me."

"Well maybe _you_ convinced me to join after you came out here and started messing with me!"

The cloaked man stared, then burst out laughing. "_Messing _with you?" He shook his head. "No, dear boy, I am only trying to make you realize who you really are." His golden eyes hardened. "A ruthless _monster._ I know why they want you on their side. Because their afraid of what you would do on mine. They thought you might make a good Guardian. No; they were dead wrong." Of course, Pitch was lying – but he was well practiced in the talent, and his smooth voice helped pass along the message in a truthful manner. The Guardians were actually slightly concerned about Jack, after he left so abruptly. Tooth figured that he might go looking for his lost memories, which had sparked the worry going through each of their minds, but they managed to convince themselves that he was only thinking about his decision to become a Guardian or not. It was true, however, that they were fearful of what Jack could do if turned away from the light. Sandy was especially worried; he'd seen Jack's powers in action before, and the outcome wasn't usually very pretty. Avalanches in the high mountains, huge freak snowstorms… Most of those weren't natural.

But Pitch had no trouble in hiding his knowledge of the Guardians' fears for Jack's wellbeing. Just as he would have no trouble delivering the orders he knew would have to be given, now that he'd discovered Jack's motives.

As Pitch had been talking, Jack had been gathering up his anger and funneling it into his staff, preparing to attack the Nightmare King. As Pitch opened his mouth to speak again, Jack let out a cry of anger and tightened his grip on the staff, releasing all of his clashing emotions. Millions of small ice splinters, all gathered up into one powerful stream of blue, went raging towards Pitch.

Sensing the attack before the immortal had even made a move, Pitch smiled and disappeared into the shadows just before the ice hit him.

Jack breathed hard, anger still coursing through his ice-cold veins. "Where are you? Show yourself, Pitch!"

Without hesitation, a shadow materialized in front of Jack. A second later, the shadow became solid flesh. "You think _you_ can defeat _me_?" Pitch smirked, shaking his head, disappointed in the boy. "Defeat _me_, when I can sense the fear you put into your attacks before you even make them? Me, who could kill you in a heartbeat – or rather, the lack of one? I doubt even your friend the Sandman could kill me on his own," he laughed. "But now… I've stalled long enough. You've made your point clear enough. Although I would've welcomed an ally, I can see that you will not allow yourself to see the darkness inside you. Too bad. We could've been great together, you know… But enough talk." Everywhere around the two human figures, thick black sand began to pour from every crack in the ice, surrounding Jack in a cloud of shimmering shadows. Pitch's bright amber eyes stared right into Jack's icy blue ones as he ordered in a cold voice, "Kill him."

Jack Frost tensed as the Nightmares advanced on him, tightening his hold on the staff. "Get away from me…" he warned, the carvings on his staff glowing bright blue. Paying no heed to his warning, one of the horses stepped closer and whinnied: its voice held the essence of fear itself; most mortals would have given in to Pitch in that moment, but Jack was no weak human, and he knew it.

He raised his staff and pointed it at the black equine, narrowing his silver eyes and letting an icy spear strike the horse through the heart. Immediately, the horse froze – then with a clench of his fist the ice exploded, killing the horse he'd targeted, and surprising the others into their black sand forms – which might not have been to his advantage. The whirlwind of darkness circled him. All he could see was black, and the occasional glimmer of gold: the Nightmares' eyes.

Jack turned, trying to find a target to strike at, or at least an opening so that he could get out of this cloud of… well, cloud of _fear._

He tried to tell himself that he wasn't afraid of Pitch. He tried to reassure himself that he could, and _would_, get out of this alive and well.

But this fear… it just took over. Not being able to attack the Nightmares left him with anger and fear that had no outlet; it just built up inside him until the two emotions controlled him. He took hold of his staff and hugged it to his body, crouching and shutting his eyes tightly. He could feel the power inside him, boosted, of all things, by his fear. Feeling the pure energy welling up inside his body, Jack yelled and dug his staff into the ice beneath him, sending a wave of blue-white ice sprawling over the cloud of black sand, freezing the whole herd into one horrifying mass of confused Nightmares. Most of it wasn't intelligible, but here and there he caught a hoof, or a foreleg, or an angry expression caught in the ice.

He was aware, then, of an amused snicker.

Jack whirled around to face Pitch. The Nightmare King shook his head, practically ecstatic at the sight of his defeated army.

The immortal teen was confused beyond belief: Pitch's horses were no more, only a sculpture of black and white towering around the two beings, and yet here he was – laughing his head off like some maniac.

"Oh, oh my goodness," he sneered, gesturing with wide arms to the Nightmares that were frozen all around him. "It appears that – somehow, someway – you've _defeated_ my Nightmares!" Pitch grinned, delighted at the fact which he stated. "What _power_ you have, hidden inside you! It's quite funny, really."

Jack took a step back. "_Funny?_" he repeated angrily, raising his staff. "Why- what the heck do you mean, Pitch?" he snarled – the anger surged through his veins again, and his staff glowed in response.

"Yes, my boy, _funny. _I know everything there is to know about you.I was there at your death, for God's sake. I saw your little sister sobbing on the bank of that pond, staring at the spot where you'd fallen… And then I followed her to your house, where she was too afraid to tell your mother what happened. I filled her with terror whenever she saw a frozen lake for the rest of her life. I was also there when _you_ were created, when the Man in the Moon took pity on your sorrowful soul. And right from that moment, I knew… You were too powerful for your own good. No one knew your true power, not even you, until just a moment ago. But I could see it. I knew that the Man in the Moon had created a being he never should have, and I knew that one day, you would either need to join me – or die."

Jack was too caught up in what Pitch had said about his sister, and his mother, to process his next words. He stumbled back as the intimidating man went on about how much power he really possessed, but couldn't think straight. _I had a sister, _he thought desperately. _And- and a mother… A family… People who could see me without even believing in me…_ His heart was pounding. Pitch's words about his past life had thrown him off guard, and now he didn't know what to think, what to do. Jack continued stepping back until he hit the frozen sand, then he began to tremble with fury. Pitch noticed the sudden change in his mournful expression and smiled inwardly, but forced a bit of fear onto his features, trying to appear vulnerable.

Seeing Pitch's face made Jack think he had a chance to get through the man's defenses… So he went all out. Screaming with rage, he let his grief explode through his staff and his ice; the barrier of stiff Nightmares erupted in a chaos of black and white. Jack collapsed from the effort – once was tiring, but he hadn't put too much effort into the first one (since he was so surprised he was able to do such a taxing thing in the first place), but spending all that energy twice in a matter of minutes was too much for him.

Still holding onto his staff, Jack kneeled on the ice, chest heaving. His vision was blurred, darkening at the edges; though maybe that was just because of Pitch's presence. He didn't look up to see if he'd even touched Pitch, but he could feel his Nightmares whirling around him, filling him with dread. _Well, shoot. I released his Nightmares… He wanted to get me mad, didn't he?_ _So that I would break the ice holding his army… I suppose that worked out just fine for him. Now he's gotten me weak, too._

The immortal clenched his eyes tightly shut to shield him from the confusing swirl of black and yellow, but the Nightmares were everywhere – not just in the air. They filled his head, his fear. Fear that maybe he _wouldn't_ make it out of this…

An equine-like shape approached him. He could feel it there; he could feel the terror it emitted. Gritting his teeth, he raised his head slowly and glared at it. Ruthless golden slits gazed back at him, unfazed by his murderous look. Jack attempted to freeze it, but it was a half-hearted endeavor, and he barely frosted its hooves. The Nightmare took a step back and stared at the frost. It was probably thinking something along the lines of, _Are you kidding me right now?_

With a challenging whinny, the Nightmare dissolved into sand and shrouded him in darkness, covering him with fear. It weighed Jack down, putting pressure on his very soul… it was like a seductive whisper in his ear, telling him to just give in, telling him there was no hope for him now… Wouldn't it be better just to give up? Beg Pitch for mercy? Tell him that he'd join him, if only he'd call off the Nightmares…

But with a huge effort, Jack ignored the voices. Without even realizing it, he'd curled up into a tight ball, hugging his knees to his chest. Tears streamed out of his eyes, freezing on his face. His staff was lying next to him – vulnerable – but he paid no attention to it, as he had no attention to give. All his thoughts were focused on not giving in, not giving in, _do not give in._ But the oppressive fear consumed him, and it was too much for the boy's fragile thoughts.

Jack screamed; a terrible, piercing noise that even frightened himself. He had never screamed like that before, and yet he had never felt such pain before, either. But it wasn't pain, not exactly… The fear pained his soul, not his body.

The immortal shook violently, and he choked back sobs.

He wanted; he wanted so badly to plead to Pitch – to beg for his mercy.

And perhaps he would have, if he were able to form a coherent word at the moment.

But being Pitch had its advantages, and the Nightmare King could sense very clearly that Jack Frost wanted to wave a white flag. However, he was unaccustomed to giving in to his victim's begs – he never had before, that was for sure. Nonetheless, the shadowy man considered it, thinking about how he could use Frost's pain to his advantage… and he came up with an idea.

In a burst of light and relief, the Nightmares were gone. They fled into the shadows at one word from their king.

Jack was left alone on the ice, his staff still lying beside him. He was shaking, trembling with fear at what Pitch was going to do to him. He curled tighter as Pitch got closer to him, but the man reached not for him, but for his staff. He examined the long piece of wood closely, thinking to himself while he allowed Jack to recover from his ordeal.

Very slowly, Jack convinced himself to sit up and look at the Nightmare King. He couldn't bring himself to talk just yet, though. Instead he let his questioning look ask for him – _why had Pitch not finished the deed?_ Why was he still alive? And what was Pitch going to do _now_?

Leaning comfortably on Jack's staff, Pitch smiled at the scarred immortal. "I can see why you like this thing, it's quite useful," he commented, casually flicking a snowflake away from his face. "And I know what you're thinking – I'm thinking along the same lines," he snickered, rolling his eyes. "I'm not quite sure what to do with you yet, but I know you'll be useful to me in the future; more useful than you will be if you're dead, at least.

"However… I do need to make sure you won't attack me again. So I think I'll give you a fate _worse_ than death."

Jack's exhausted eyes looked up fearfully, and he braced himself for whatever Hell Pitch had prepared for him.

The Nightmare King raised Jack's staff, examining it with amusement on his face. "Well, you certainly won't need _this_ anymore."

And with a single harsh movement and a loud, resounding _crack,_ Jack's staff fell to the ground, broken into halves.

Jack Frost cried out in horror and pain – _real_ pain this time, both physical and mental. He clutched at his abdomen, his mind blank.

When he was asked about this pain in the future, he wouldn't know exactly how to describe it – Imagine your soul, your very _existence_ being ripped in two. Imagine someone tearing you in half and keeping you alive to feel the pain.

You might get half of what I felt, he would say.

The agony Jack felt overwhelmed him. He couldn't speak, couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't see… But he could feel. Oh yes, he could certainly feel, and the feeling took over.

He was no longer a living person.

He was a shell, a shell with no other purpose but to house pain.

Jack screamed one last time – barely even comprehending that he was making a sound – and let the darkness overcome him.

Jack Frost's lifeless form lay on the ice, surrounded by nothing but white.

A splash of fading color in an endless bleached wasteland.


	2. Chapter 2

_Oh, wow, thank you everyone for all the follows, favorites, and especially the reviews! I didn't expect this to be so popular xD _

_Also, I feel like I need to reply to these reviews... I don't know how else to do it but here, though x3_

_Angie in Randomland: I spent a lot of time considering whether I should have Jack curse or not x3 After reading your review, I decided not to have him curse anymore... You're right, it just doesn't seem like the kind of thing he'd do, when he hangs around with so many children... But I don't know how to edit the previous chapter, so... just pretend he never says and cuss words xDDD_

_Sheenafox: Thank you for your advice... I'd change it now, but I don't know how xD /newbie_

_Anyways, I'll let you guys get reading now... This is much shorter than chapter one, I apologize, but there's just not as much to type here xD and I was eager to get chapter two done, so... yeah. _

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter Two**

Tooth flittered around everyone's head, talking at rapid speed to no one in particular – all of her fairies were gone, taken to some horrid place by Pitch, and she sorely missed them. Without them to do the job of collecting teeth, and as she was stuck here trying to find and bring down Pitch, kids were slowly learning that there was no such thing as the tooth fairy. She could feel it inside her; such an odd feeling it was… It was as if, for every child that did not believe in her any longer, something gave her a small shock. There were still enough children for her to maintain her power, but she could feel something eating away at her energy. She was chattering about things at such a fast pace that the other Guardians could hardly keep up with her; all they heard was a few random addresses, types of teeth, and "Do you think Jack is alright?"

Bunny shook his head, exasperated. "Tooth, calm down, will ya? I'm sure Frost is _fine._ He's been on his own for 300 years; just because Pitch has something he wants doesn't mean he's crazy enough to actually look for Pitch." Considering his words, the large rabbit added, "Although, he might be. I dunno." Bunny flicked his ears, thoroughly annoyed by her continuous high-pitched voice. "And can you _please_ quiet down a little, mate? These ears are mighty sensitive, ya know."

Looking quite affronted, Tooth fluttered over to Bunny and crossed her arms. "Bunny, I have every right to worry about Jack; did you see how determined he was to get those memories? And Pitch seemed _very_ interested in him at my Palace; he seemed to think Jack was swayable and that he might be able to get Jack on his side." The large fairy glared at each of them, daring them to say that he might actually betray them.

Rolling his eyes, Sandy gathered up a golden cloud of sand and floated between the two, conjuring the image of one of Pitch's Nightmares above his head. North came over as well, looking rather hassled. "Yes, yes, Sandy is right. We should be looking for Pitch, not arguing amongst ourselves! If we cannot work as team – as _Guardians_ – we will never win against Pitch. I am confident that Jack can take care of himself-"

The heavyset man was interrupted, however, by a seductive laugh. All four of the Guardians looked towards the globe.

"Pitch…?" North wondered aloud; his question was answered by the black sand that swirled into the air, a steady stream emerging from each of the lights flickering on the globe. Five Nightmares snorted into existence, stamping their hooves and glaring at each of the Guardians in turn with their lamp-like eyes. Then the man-of-the-moment himself made his appearance, forming himself from the shadows as he was so fond of doing.

"Hello, my dear Guardians. I heard your fears from miles away…," he sneered, standing in front of the small herd of Nightmares. "And I am sorry to say that they were quite reasonable." Pitch took his hand out from behind his back, revealing the two halves of Jack's staff and tossing them on the ground without a care.

Tooth gasped, flying back. "No…," she said fearfully, eyes wide. "What have you done, Pitch…?" The others had equally aghast reactions; Sandy's dreamsand became sluggish and almost weak at the sight of the broken staff; North's eyes went wide with amazement at the thought that Pitch would – _could_ – do such a terrible thing; and Bunny's paws went straight to his boomerangs.

The rabbit approached the splintered wood slowly, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "You… _killed_ him?"

Pitch chuckled, grinning at the Guardian's hilarious reactions to Jack's "death", when they hardly even liked him much in the first place. "No, _Bunny_, not killed… Although I suppose he might die without his protection from the cold." He gestured at the two pieces of the staff. "The Antarctic can certainly be a bit fazing if you can actually feel the cold." The Nightmare King stood for a few moments, letting the words sink in, then he took his leave. "I apologize for the short visit; I came only to deliver the news. I must be going now… Good luck finding your friend's body." Smiling to himself, Pitch turned, gestured to his Nightmares, and together they melted into darkness.

The four Guardians of Childhood stood, dumbstruck, for a few seconds before Sandy regained his head. Images of alarm flickered over his head; an exclamation point, an image of the Nightmares, Jack's staff, then Jack himself; and the short man floated in front of each of the Guardians, stopping at North – although it wasn't exactly official, the other three regarded North as the leader of the Guardians. Sandy stared at North, presumably asking if they could go look for Jack.

North narrowed his eyes in concern. "Yes, we need to find Jack… Without his powers, he'll certainly be vulnerable to cold, and if Pitch is speaking truth, he's in the Antarctic – not good place for him." Now the bearded man was pacing, pulling at his beard thoughtfully. "But Pitch wants to distract us, I think." North considered the problem for a moment, then made his decision.

"Sandy, Tooth… Go see if you can find Jack. If he really is out there, he's probably unconscious – or near enough – which means that Sandy should be able to find him by tracking dreams. Am I right?" he looked to the Sandman for conformation, and the small golden man nodded his assent. "Bunny and I will remain preparing to fight Pitch, and figuring out where his base is. Good?" North glanced at each of his friends in turn, and, upon seeing no disagreement, clapped his hands. "Then go, go! Before it is too late!"

Tooth and Sandy nodded and raced out of the North Pole.

"Do you think we'll find him, Sandy?"

A thumbs up image appeared over the golden man's head as he soared alongside the feathered fairy, but his eyes revealed his uncertainty.


	3. Chapter 3

_Yay, chapter three! Again a bit of a shorter chapter, compared to the first, but I'm going to try my best to make the next one longer - and while I'm on the topic of chapter four, it might be a while before I update again, because I have a lot of homework this weekend... and I hardly ever have time during the week. So don't expect another chapter too quickly, but I'll try to get it uploaded as soon as I can!_

_Also, thank you for all of the attention this is getting ;u; I didn't expect that anyone would like it... So thank you so much, everyone who is following, who favorited, or who reviewed Permafrost!_

_Enjoy chapter three C:_

**C****hapter Three**

She shivered, rubbing her arms. "I should've brought a jacket… Why didn't I think about that? I have this nice feathered coat – not real feathers, though, don't worry!" Tooth got caught up in thinking about how wrong that would be. "I mean, wearing a coat made out of feathers when _I'm _practically made out of feathers myself! That would be so weird…"

Sandy knew that she was talking so fast because she was worried about Jack, so he tried to tune her out and focus on searching for Jack's unconscious mind. Usually it wasn't so hard to find sleeping minds – in fact, it usually didn't take any effort at all – but since Jack was unconscious and not sleeping, dreams would find it hard-pressed to take form in his mind. All the same, the Sandman tried his best, for the sake of his friend's life.

The two Guardians were over a frozen wilderness; practically everything was white – although there was a patch of light blue here and there: ice. Tooth was still talking about feathers and morals, but she wasn't forgetting about the task they'd come out here to perform. Her wide purple eyes searched everywhere they could see, searching for a small spot of color among the eye-burning white. "Oh, Jack, where are you?" she whispered, darting around the cold sky. "Sandy, can you sense him anywhere?" Desperation was creeping into her voice. "He's been out here for hours – there's no telling when Pitch decided to drop in – he must be freezing; oh, we have to find him _now_…"

Nodding his agreement, Sandy reached out farther with his Dreamsand, trying to find Jack. He concentrated for a few minutes on a single tendril, going farther and farther – until finally, he found something! It was a mind, for sure; but he couldn't tell whose. He could only barely sense it, meaning that it could be unconscious – not just sleeping.

Expressing his excitement via several sandy images of his own Dreamsand, Jack, and an arrow pointing in the direction of where he thought he'd sensed the unconscious mind, Sandy raced off towards it. Tooth, a smile spreading across her face, followed her fellow Guardian, her beautiful multi-hued wings beating so fast it was difficult to tell if they were even there.

* * *

No more than ten minutes later, Tooth and Sandy approached a motionless figure lying limply on the ice. Tooth flew up to it first, flitting around the figure. "J-Jack?" she said, confused. "Is that… you?" The boy looked like Jack. He was wearing the exact same hoodie, the same leggings. But his hair… His hair was _brown._ Not the shimmery-white that the Guardians knew so well. Tooth looked at Sandy, who shrugged and gestured to his cloud of Dreamsand. Quickly, he formed a golden bed, and indicated that Tooth should put the boy in it. Tooth nodded, and picked up the freezing teenager carefully, sliding him into the sandy covers. She could feel the soft warmth that the sand was emitting, and she smiled at Sandy. "Good thinking."

The Sandman nodded, then pointed in the general direction of the North Pole with a look of urgency on his face.

"Yeah, you're right; we need to get him to a warmer place… The sand won't help on its own." Tooth looked at the boy's face for a moment. "Sandy… He looks like Jack, he really does, but why is his hair _brown_?"

The golden man shrugged. He too looked at the boy, shrugged again, and headed towards the North Pole at rapid speed.

As they flew, Tooth was thinking. She gathered up all the information she had about Jack and went through it in her head, trying to see if she could come up with a reason for why his hair had suddenly turned brown. She gasped suddenly as it came to her – "His memories!" she cried, coming to a halt in midair.

Sandy turned and stared at her, wondering what she was going on about. Tooth flew over to the floating bed and looked at Jack, her eyes saddened. "He… When Pitch broke his staff, he must've returned to his previous state… I think- I think he's a _human_ now, Sandy… Which would explain why he's vulnerable to the cold now… We have to get him back to the Pole, quickly!"

And she flew off without another word, leaving Sandy behind looking exasperated. If he could talk, he would've given her a piece of his mind about stopping without warning and then blaming how slow they were going on _him._ But no, he was forced to remain silent, and silent he was.

He put on a burst of speed, careful not to jostle the brown-haired Jack too much as he followed Tooth. Occasionally, he looked down at Frost, poking at his mind with a sandy tendril, tempting it with a nice dream, but they boy's thoughts were too dark and muddled in their unconscious state; too opaque to influence with the light joy of a dream. Instead, Sandy distracted himself by sending out a few hundred dreams to the sleeping children around the world. He smiled as he created a few of the dreams mentally – a lost pet returning home, the handsome boy that a girl somewhere had a crush on – but his face darkened as a thought came to him – a thought, that both of those dreams might never come true.

That was the real nightmare – reality.

The dreammaker suddenly realized, as he the word nightmare crossed his mind, that none of Pitch's Nightmares had tried to interfere with his dreams; nor had he even sensed any of their dark intent anywhere. _Pitch must be lying low, is all,_ he thought. _Well, we'll find him after figure out what's wrong with Jack._

* * *

Gently setting the down the Dreamsand-crafted bed on top of a real one, Sandy let the shimmering sand dissolve into the welcoming covers, putting Jack Frost safely between them.

North approached the three almost immediately after Tooth announced their arrival. He took one look at Tooth's expression and his own darkened – he didn't need to see Jack to know there was something the matter with him. "What is wrong?" he asked hurriedly, walking over to the bed that Sandy was standing next to. "You found Jack?"

Tooth nodded, uncharacteristically quiet. "He- well, it's hard to explain…" she trailed off.

North glanced for the first time at Jack; he'd been too preoccupied with getting a reply from Tooth to truly get a good look at Jack yet, and when he processed that something was majorly wrong with his young friend, he gasped loudly – too stunned to do anything but gape.

Right on time, E. Aster Bunnymund emerged from one of his marvelous tunnels to witness a very odd scene indeed: North had a strange bemused look on his face; Tooth and Sandy both looked extremely worried. Even stranger, however, was that the bed they were gathered around appeared to be empty – for Jack's figure was slight, and from Bunny's point of view he couldn't see much of the bed itself. It never occurred to him to connect the fact that Tooth and Sandy were back from looking for Frost with the weird scene. "Oi, I'm back – what're you all lookin' at?" He hopped around them and flinched back with shock as his bright green eyes found the spectacle. "Is that…" he trailed off in confusion; his mind was telling him that Jack had white hair, not brown, yet his eyes insisted that the boy had the same face as Jack.

Tooth looked up at Bunnymund. "We think it is… we found him right where Pitch said Jack was, in the Antarctic, but- well-" she broke off and looked at Sandy uncertainly, wondering how to explain. "I had a thought on the way over here… In his past life – when he was human – he had brown hair and brown eyes. He looked… essentially, just like he does now, just with his regular clothes… And I thought, maybe when Pitch broke his staff, he lost his immortality?"

North shook his head in disagreement, trying to think of a different explanation, but nothing came to him. "That can't be right, it can't be! Man in Moon gave Jack immortality – no one but Manny can take it away! Right…?" The Russian man looked at the other Guardians, hoping for at least one of them to nod in agreement – but none of them did. They only looked sadly at Jack.

After a few moments of silence, Tooth added as an afterthought, "Jack's human name was Jackson Overland Frost."

* * *

_So, yeah, there's chapter three! After I saw the movie for the first time, I thought it would be cool if Jack's connection to the staff was a lot more crucial to his existance than they show in the movie... So I came up with this idea of Jack turning human if his staff is broken for too long/if he stays away from his staff for long enough._

_Please review if you have the time 3 Critique really helps and kind comments brighten my day C:_


	4. Chapter 4

_ouo thank you for all of your support! I'm really, really sorry for the long wait, but here's Chapter Four! :D_

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter Four**

"North! Come quickly; get Sandy and Bunny too – I think… I think he's waking up!" Tooth's excited voice rang out through the long hallways of North's home, from the bedroom where they'd put Jack. There was a bit of anxiety in her tone, but she tried to keep it from showing. She wanted so bad for Jack to wake up normal; she wished – impossibly, but still she did – that he would wake and his hair would turn back to its usual white, and that he would jump out of bed, fun-loving as ever, ready to give some kids a few snow days. But as the boy shifted in the bed and moaned softly, Tooth could discern no difference in his brown hair. His pale skin, too, had slowly gotten tanner and more full of life as he'd rested, until he looked… looked just like any other seventeen-year-old boy.

She raised her feathered head as her friends entered the room, glancing at them sadly. Tooth couldn't believe that the Man in the Moon would let Jack go like this – what had changed since that fateful day, 300 year earlier, when he'd taken pity on a responsible older brother? Why had Manny suddenly decided that Jack Frost didn't deserve the title of Jack Frost anymore? Or was it – Moon forbid! – not the Man in the Moon's choice?

The other three Guardians looked somewhat distracted, still discussing where Pitch might be. They were using North's giant globe to pin down places where he might be hiding, but were so far unable to locate him. They had eliminated many places that were usually associated with positive feelings: amusement parks, big cities, etc. – but there were too many places that had known fear to really unearth the Nightmare King unless he wanted to be found, and the Guardians were no closer to stumbling upon his lair. The fact that Pitch knew exactly where each of them resided put them at an even greater disadvantage.

However, news of Jack's revival renewed their spent energy. All three of them had visibly brightened from their formerly worn-out expressions. North especially looked glad to see Jack waking up – he had been worried about the boy.

Jack Frost was definitely coming to. As the Guardians watched, his eyelids fluttered sleepily, and he let out a soft groan. He lay there for a few seconds, immobile – then the now brown-haired teen's eyes snapped open in a panic; he jumped out of the bed and stood there awkwardly, shivering slightly in the cool air.

The four beings who had been watching his previously motionless form had flinched back a few steps in surprise: his violent awakening had been unexpected.

The trembling teenager stared at the motley group, his breath ragged and his eyes wide.

His eyes – his eyes! North was the first to register (he always noticed the details) that there had been a second change in Jack's physical traits. "Your eyes… they are… brown!" the Russian man exclaimed, glancing at the others to be sure they were seeing the same picture.

Jack took a step back; he was now pushed up against the wall. "M-my eyes have always been brown…" he said slowly, trying to figure out if he was dreaming or if he was really seeing these strange beings before him. He pinched his arm – hard – and winced slightly at the feeling. Yep, he was definitely awake. "What… _are_ you guys?" He hadn't meant to sound rude, but it came out oddly. His voice was shaky, filled with a hesitant fear that none of the others had heard from him before.

When none of them gave him an answer, North decided to step in. "Jack – we are your friends, remember? I am North, she is Tooth, this is Bunny, and that is Sandy. You know us, yes?" he beamed at the lanky boy after pointing at each of the Guardians in turn, waiting for recognition to flood Jack's face… but it didn't come. Instead, his confusion seemed to grow more pronounced.

"Jack? No one calls me that, my name is Jackson… but how do you know my name, anyways? Why is the kangaroo named Bunny? Your feathers… they're very pretty. Why does it look like he's made out of sand? Is that why his name is Sandy?" Some of the trepidation in his tone had been replaced by innocent curiosity, but he was still leaning away from the four misfits.

North and Tooth exchanged a worried look, but Bunny just rolled his eyes. "Huh, I guess losing his memory didn't change him that much," he grumbled, annoyed at the kangaroo joke. "I'm a bunny, okay mate? Get it through your thick head!" Bunnymund had advanced slightly on Jack – no, Jackson - as he spoke, and the teen inched away from the "kangaroo," sliding into the corner of the room. Tooth, noticing his discomfort, fluttered up to Bunny and whispered something harshly in his ear. The Easter bunny rolled his eyes again, but backed away, allowing Jackson to relax slightly. Sandy, however, had a big grin on his face: he was glad that his friend was able to sit up and talk, even if he had forgotten about his friends. The dreammaker rose into the air, hovering in front of Jack. Images flickered above his head as he tried to explain to Jackson what had happened: a horse with slits for eyes, Pitch's silhouette, Jack's staff, Jack, and various other things appeared as he tried to clarify his point.

Staring blankly at the golden man, Jackson blinked and looked past the Sandman towards the other three, trying to indicate that he didn't understand a word Sandy was saying. Completely missing his expression, Sandy continued to repeat the images, enthusiastically gesturing at his Dreamsand in an effort to get him to understand.

"Wh-what is he doing?" Jackson asked, beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed by the Sandman's enthusiasm. Before anyone could respond, however, Sandy huffed and blew a few streams of sand out of his ears in frustration. He floated back to the others, face fallen in disappointment.

Tooth giggled softly at Sandy's expressive ways, but turned her face towards Jackson, looking at him sympathetically. She spoke quietly to him in an attempt to answer his many questions. "We – we know your name… well, this is going to be confusing, but let me try to explain…" The tooth fairy described each of the Guardians in turn, introducing them and telling Jackson their oath to the children. She told him about Pitch, an enemy they had kept at bay for centuries, and how he had finally made an attempt for power. She also mentioned a sixth character – someone named Jack Frost. "He had certain abilities, see? Just like us, he was given these abilities – these powers – to bring joy and happiness to the world."

Jackson hung onto her every word like a lifeline. He knew that this Jack Frost had something to do with his memory loss – after all, his name was Jackson Frost, and there obviously wasn't much of a difference between their names. But he was also reluctant to hear the end of this story, afraid of an unhappy ending. What had caused him to lose his memory? If he concentrated hard, he could just barely remember a few things from his childhood: being proud of his first successful hunting mission, playing with his little sister, and something to do with ice-cold water… but it was all murky, like there was a huge, important piece missing from the puzzle.

Tooth continued. "Jack Frost, as you might have guessed from his name, was the bringer of-"

The room darkened, and Tooth fell silent with surprise.

They looked around, and the room went completely black.

Everything was silent for a few seconds – then Jack's voice reached their ears. "Wh-where is everyone? What happened?" His voice had regained its shakiness.

North spoke next: "I am not sure, perhaps one of the elves messed something up? I will go check." There was a few rustling noises, then a sharp yelp of pain.

"Oi, watch where you're steppin'! That's my paw!"

"Sorry Bunny, sorry, it is too dark, I did not mean to!"

A disgruntled snort came from Bunnymund's direction. "Sure, sure."

Then a gasp emitted from the corner where Jackson had been. "What was that?" he asked; his voice had gone up a few notes with fear.

"What was what?" Tooth said, confused.

Jackson shuddered. He had been sure he felt something slither over his foot, not unlike a snake, and yet… it hadn't felt exactly like it had been alive.

He was about to speak again, when something blocked his mouth, rendering him unable to make any noise at all. Nothing had touched him, and yet still he couldn't get any sound to emerge from his throat.

Something fell over him – it felt like… sand? He didn't have time to think about it, before he felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he was pulled backwards, through the wall.

As if the thing had become distracted, he felt the thing constricting his throat fall away, and he let out a single scream of terror before his vision truly faded to black.


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry for not updating sooner, guys... My finger is all swollen up and it kinda hurts to type, so you should be glad I could update at all xD _

_This is a shorter chapter, sorry about that... But hopefully it'll still be good :3_

_Enjoy!_

_Oh, and I__'m also looking for a beta reader... If you'd be willing to do that for me, please PM me! C:_

**Chapter Five**

Light had returned to the room mere seconds after the piercing scream. The Guardians of Childhood stood, frozen in place with shock and fear of what had just occurred. North's hand was on the doorknob. The other three were standing around an empty corner – empty, besides the small pile of black sand that lay where Jackson had been before the lights went out.

Tooth gasped as she realized what had happened. Sandy's Dreamsand when haywire with broken images, barely intelligible apart from one recurring silhouette: Pitch.

* * *

He was sitting on a cold stone floor. This was the first thing he knew after the stomach-turning journey through darkness. It was still dark, unless his eyes were shut. It was hard to tell if they were open or not. If they were open, it sure didn't make much of a difference.

Jackson looked around with a fearful hesitation, unsure of what to do or where he was. He wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to know where he was, though.

He got to his feet slowly, unsteady from the strange method of travel that had taken him to this stone "chamber." He called it a chamber because he had no other word for it. This place where the dark sand-stuff had deposited him had no light whatsoever; and as far as he could tell (as he felt around him carefully) no objects that might help him find his way through, either. It was, essentially, pitch black. Jackson smiled slightly as he thought of the word, remembering what that strange feathered lady had told him. Pitch Black, bringer of fear, Lord of the Nightmares, was trying to defeat the "Guardians," whatever that meant. He was unsure of what to think about this character, Pitch. His name made it sound like he was only darkness – not a real person at all. And yet the lady (what was her name? Tooth?) talked about him as though he were tangible, alive.

His curiosity about this place, and of Pitch Black, gave him courage. He stood tall and walked forward a few steps, his arms reaching out awkwardly to prevent him from running into anything. After walking for a few minutes and finding no light source or recognizable object, Jackson sighed and let his arms hang at his sides. He turned around, glancing back at where he'd come, and thought for a moment. _What harm could it do?_ He mused, letting himself smile a little. _Chances are no one's around here anyways. What's the worst that could happen?_

Grinning now, he felt a thrill of anticipation. He was afraid to do this, scared to alert some slumbering creature to his presence, and yet he was also excited. It was strange.

Cupping his hands to his mouth, he took a breath and yelled, "Hey! Anyone out there? Where am I? What is this place?"

He wasn't exactly surprised to hear his voice echo, and echo it certainly did. He cringed as the words bounced off the ceiling and walls of the cavern, wondering what to expect now that he'd revealed himself so obviously.

Turning around in a slow circle, searching the blackness meticulously for some shred of color, he gasped and stumbled back when he noticed two small spots of yellow lamplight. "Who is that?" he called out again; not as loud this time, but still enough to create an echo.

The two pinpricks of light winked in and out, then faded, and Jackson tensed. The lights reappeared closer, only a few yards away. "Wh-who are you?" he said softly, crouching and preparing to run. Where, he wasn't sure. Just… away from the lights.

The two blotches swung up and moved closer, and suddenly Jackson understood. The lights were _eyes_, notlamps! How could he not have seen that?

As the creature moved closer, Jackson stumbled away, a tiny bit of fear creeping into his heart – and then was banished instantly as he heard a strange, snorting sound coming from the creature. It was like the thing was attempting to whinny, but had something caught in its throat. _It's a- a horse?_ He thought incredulously, standing up straighter. He laughed softly. "Oh, you're only a horse!" he smiled happily, walking towards the creature. "Admittedly, one with glowing yellow eyes and can't really neigh, but a horse all the same!" He reached out a tentative hand, trying to find its muzzle, and gasped as he touched the horse's skin. Pulling back his hand quickly, he shuddered. Its skin… it had been the same sandy stuff that had taken him here. "Are you… are you the one who brought me here?" Thinking back to the conversation he'd had with the human hummingbird, he thought he recalled her mentioning _nightmares_. Was this what she meant? Not dreams, but actual _mares_? "Are you a nightmare?" he whispered softly, reaching for the horse's nose again. He managed to keep his hand there this time, shaking off the unpleasant feel of the sand and letting the horse sniff him.

He had no fear of horses, not even ones who glowed, and were made out of strange sand-like substances. Jackson had been around horses his whole life – or at least, some deep instinct inside told him that he had.

The mare – he assumed she was female – nudged his hand a little, nickering in that broken, dying way that she had before. It made him shudder, but the way she was so calm and unmoving comforted him. This nightmare wasn't so bad, was it?

Jackson smiled, rubbing the horse's forehead. "Now, if only I could see you… and you could help me get out of here."

* * *

The shadows frowned. This was not how it was supposed to go, not at all. The boy was supposed to _fear_ the Nightmare, not _pet_ it.

_But,_ the shadows thought,_ maybe this will work in my favor._

The shadows ordered the single Nightmare to play along with the boy, to befriend it.

And the shadows smiled as they watched the brown-haired teenager, encircling him and laughing silently.


	6. Author's Note and Apology

To my dear followers;

I regret to say that I won't be continuing Permafrost, if that wasn't explicitly obvious by the fact that I hadn't updated for (has it been over a month?) a long time...

I truthfully have zero interest in finishing this; it started out as a drabble and expanded into something that I actually dislike (I really hate human!Jack fics). Soo... My apologies to anyone who actually liked this!

It's possible that I may start another RotG fic sometime in the future; I have a chapter written of one that I sort of want to do, but I don't want to start it and then abandon it, like I did with Permafrost... So I'm going to wait.


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